The Night Hunter
by DIGITALRANDOMNESS
Summary: TK and Kari's date goes fine until disaster strikes and the pair find themselves in the hospital. Angered, Matt, Tai, Sora, and Cody try to find the wouldbe killer, but soon begin to realize that they may be in over their heads when others DDs are injured
1. Prologue and Chapter 1

**Cullen: "It not be Halloveen but I vill be posting mai verevolfe story...**

**Yolei: "Cullen quit the Transylvanian Dracula accent! Read the story already."**

**Cullen: "Fine. (I vill now plote my revvengeh)."**

**Disclaimer- I don't own Digimon, however I'm currently working on that situation, jk**

_The darkness clouds everything... Impossible to see the future is_

The Night Hunter

Prologue

The bright, golden full-moon lit up the sky. Silver stars were dotted around it, glistening like diamonds over the park in Odaiba, Japan. From behind the trees a young couple stepped out of the shadows, away from the bright lights of the city. The girl had dark brown hair that just barely touched her shoulders, she had a beautiful face and flawless skin, and her amber eyes were being covered by the boy's hands. He was tall with golden-blonde hair and sapphire-blue eyes. They were both wearing spring jackets, the boy's was green and the girl's was pink and black, and the boy had jeans on while the girl was wearing a red skirt. "Come on, why won't you let me see where we're going?" the brown haired girl complained.

"Relax Kari, where almost there!" her boyfriend replied calmly, it was obvious he was excited about something.

They walked for a few more moments in silence before the boy stopped Kari. "Are we there yet T.K.?" Kari asked.

"You'll see it after a kiss," T.K. said, grinning, to his girlfriend who blushed slightly and giggled. Kari turned around, making sure she didn't see what her boyfriend wanted to show her and their lips collided, their tongues almost brushing against one another's. They broke away after five minutes, "You ready to see the surprise?" T.K. whispered to Kari, who nodded with a smile on her face, "Then turn around."

Kari turned around slowly and gasped at the dazzling sight in front of them. It was a pond, the moon and stars were shining down on it which caused the light to reflect off it and shown against the pink sakura trees around it, illuminating them. It was beautiful. "Well, what do you think?" T.K. asked.

After a moment of silence, Kari finally found words, "It's amazing. It's one of the most gorgeous sights I've ever seen!"

"Well that makes two of you," T.K. replied with a whisper into her ear. Kari blushed slightly.

It had been a perfect date; a romantic dinner, a movie, good weather, and now this. Kari pulled her camera out of her purse and took a few pictures of the scene; T.K. smiled and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Then, there was a low growl from behind them, "I think it's too beautiful, I should change that."

T.K. and Kari whipped around in surprise to see a tall figure in the shadows behind them, the sky covered with fog and it was impossible to tell who it was due to darkness. However, they could tell he was tall and muscular and seemed to have ears at the top of its head and what appeared to be large paws. "Kari, get behind me," T.K. hissed. She obeyed without hesitation.

The figure cackled a bit, "There is entirely too much pink and yellow," it said. "I believe some cadmium red is in order here." It stepped toward them and claws extended out of it paws.

Kari gripped T.K.'s arm, "T.K., I'm scared!" she whispered.

"Yeah, me too; we should have brought Patamon and Gatomon." T.K. whispered back.

The creature had gotten down on all fours, it's rear-end was sticking up into the air, revealing a tail. Then, it lunged at the fifteen year olds, Kari screamed, and it hit them in the chests at exactly the same time, knocking the wind out of them.

Everything went black...

Chapter the First

Tai brushed his brunette hair away from his chocolate colored eyes. He stared out the window as a bunch of sirens blared, police cars and ambulances soared passed his apartment building. Tai frowned and glanced up at the clock, 9:30 pm. Kari should have been back from her date by now. He turned and walked over to his girlfriend, Sora, who was sitting on the couch. "What's with all the sirens?" the auburn-haired girl asked.

"I'm not sure," Tai replied and picked up the T.V. remote, "Let's find out, whatever happened is probably on the news." He turned on the television and switched it to the news channel and sat down next to Sora.

A news reporter was standing in the park with a bunch of police officers and paramedics behind her. Two unconscious, blood-covered bodies were on stretchers and were being rushed toward the ambulances. "_This just in, two teenagers were just found here in the park. A scream was heard coming from the area near the pond and police came to investigate. What they discovered was a grisly scene: Two teens were found blood-soaked and had numerous injuries, all of which were severe". The camera panned the scene and zoomed in on one of the teens being brought into the ambulance. The sheet slipped just enough to reveal a green spring jacket soaked in blood and three ribs slightly protruding from his chest._

Tai and Sora gasped in horror. The reporter had said there were two teenagers, and showed a blonde boy and brown haired girl, T.K. and Kari hadn't come back yet. Could it be that these kids _were _T.K. and Kari?

A police officer walked over to the reporter and whispered something into her ear. "_The police have just found the female victim's purse . Her name will be released after the family has been notified." _

Just then the phone rang…

Tai and Sora bolted up, and Tai rushed to answer it. He was now panic-stricken, and all the color drained from his face as the police officer on the other end of the line confirmed his worst fear, "OH. MY. GOD!" Tai shouted.

Mr. and Mrs. Kamiya burst out of their bedroom, "What's going on?" Mr. Kamiya asked, concerned.

"Kari and T.K. were found in the park, they'd been extremely injured!" Sora said, and pointed at the television as Tai hung up the phone.

The four watched the doors of the ambulance close and head off quickly toward the hospital. They also heard it pass the building. Without a word, Tai's parents raced back into their bedroom and grabbed their jackets and shoes from their closet. When they came out, Tai and Sora already had their sneakers and coats on. Tai had called T.K.'s mom and Sora called his dad and had woken them up but they were getting ready to leave as Tai got Matt, T.K.'s brother, on the phone. "Matt!" Tai shouted into the phone.

"Whoa, Tai what's going on? It must be important if you have to interrupt my band practice." Matt said calmly over the line, though he sounded kind of annoyed.

"So you didn't see the news huh? Kari and T.K. were just taken to the hospital, they looked like they'd been mauled or something!"

Tai heard Matt's cell phone drop and heard him shout to his band mates, "I've got to go, now! It's important!" Then he heard a door slam and then someone opened it again and called to the blonde rock-star that he'd left his phone and hung it up. Tai hung his cell up just as his parents ran up to them. Mr. Kamiya grabbed his van's keys and they took off toward the hospital, which was about ten minutes away.

They arrived at the hospital a few minutes later to find that Kari and Takeru had been taken into surgery. Matt and his parents came shortly after. They sat around in the waiting room anxiously; Matt and Mr. Ishida stood against the wall and were tapping their feet with frustration, Sora was trying to comfort Tai by putting her head on his shoulder and taking his hand (which actually worked pretty well), Mrs. Kamiya was crying into her husband's chest, T.K.'s mom was twiddling her thumbs with anxiety.

Every few minutes or so, a doctor or nurse would come out of the room the kids were in and Mrs. Kamiya and Ms. Takashi would jump up and harass them about what was going on with their children but they always only got the same response, "They'll be fine."

"To bad Joe doesn't intern here overnight on Saturdays huh? I'm sure he would tell us what's really going on," Tai muttered to Sora, an hour had passed since the news report, "the waiting is killing me, it's worse than when I saw the look on your face after you and Matt broke up, but before we became boyfriend and girlfriend."

_***FLASHBACK***_

_ Sora walked up to the apartment door. It had been three weeks since she and her boyfriend Yamato, a rock star who had too many fans to count, had seen or spoken to each other because Matt had to go on a long concert tour. She had been sort of depressed in that time and had gotten excited when Matt called and told her to meet him at his and his dad's apartment. She grinned and knocked on the wooden door and waited. Matt opened the door slowly, "Hey Sora… come on in," he didn't sound very happy._

_ "What's wrong?" Sora asked as they sat down on the couch in the living room._

_ Matt sighed, "Well… I've been thinking…"_

_ "Uh, oh," Sora teased, "That's not good."_

_ Matt glared at her, "Shut up okay? I'm not in the mood for jokes right now!"_

_ Sora's eyes widened when Matt snapped at her, it had really surprised her. "Err... sorry. As I was saying…" Matt continued, "Over the last few months, my band has really gotten popular and we haven't really gotten to see each other a lot. When we do it hasn't been longer than an hour and a half with all the interviews and gigs I have. That's not entirely fair to you."_

_ "What's your point?" Sora asked, tilting her head._

_ Matt sighed again, "I think you deserve someone better… I want you to have someone you can be with all the time, not a guy who you can only see every other month. You don't belong with me, you belong with Tai. You guys have been friends your whole life and you have everything in common."_

_ "But Matt!" Sora began to protest._

_ "No buts…" Matt said putting his index finger to her mouth, as if to silence her, "I want you to be happy all the time and have someone there for you whenever you need him, unlike me. I'm never here and I'm always with the Teenage Wolves, I didn't even get you your Christmas gift a few months ago, I was so busy that I had to have Tai and Mimi get you something!"_

_ Sora reeled back in surprise, "So that's why you looked so surprised when I opened up that pink laptop…" she whispered._

_ Matt got to his feet, took the red-haired girls hand and stood her up as well. Without a word he led her to the door._

_ "I'm sorry Sora. It's for the best." Matt stated and closed the door, leaving Sora alone in the hallway._

_ Sora stared at the door in shock as tears formed in her eyes. She could practically feel her heart being reduced to a pile of little shards. The tears streamed down her face like a waterfall and she ran down the hall and out the building. She heard thunder roar over her and it started to rain. 'GO AHEAD! RAIN ALL OVER ME! I DON'T CARE ANYMORE!' she mentally screamed at the sky as rain drops began to mix with the tears cascading down her cheeks. She continued running, not event to stop and say hi to Ken and Yolei as she raced passed them while they were under their umbrella. _

_The Kamiya's apartment was closer than hers so Sora decided to tell Tai what had happened. She climbed the stairs of the building and came up to their door and knocked on it. It opened a moment later to reveal Tai, "Hey Sora! Come on in, I'm the only one here right now." He said not noticing that she was crying. He took her soaking jacket and hung it on the coat hanger by the door. Still being oblivious to the 'waterworks,' he got her a towel from the bathroom to dry off. After she did, they sat down on the couch, "So what can I do for…" he'd finally realized his friend was crying. "Sora what's wrong?" he asked, worried._

"_Matt dumped me…" she replied._

"_What? Why?"_

"_He said I deserved someone better…" Sora whispered and wiped the tears out of her eyes._

"_Such as…?" Tai began to ask but Sora had reached her head up and pressed her lips against Tai's and he returned it after recovering from the initial shock._

_Sora broke away and answered his question, "You."_

_***END FLASHBACK***_

Finally a doctor came out of the surgery room and made a beeline to them, "Your kids are going to be fine. They both lost a lot of blood but the IV bags took care of that problem quickly. We fixed their broken bones and put them back into place. They aren't awake yet but if you wish to see them they're now in room C202 which is down the hall here." The parents had rushed down the hall before the doctor had finished speaking.

Tai, Sora, and Yamato followed a little more slowly so Tai and Matt's parents could spend a little time alone with their damaged children.

They waited outside the door for about five minutes before their parents came back out. "Thanks for giving us a few minutes alone… would you kids like to do the same?" Ms. Takashi asked, they nodded without hesitating and went in.

They were shocked at what they saw.

T.K. had casts on his left arm, around his torso, on his right middle finger, and over his left ear. He also had a small cut across his cheek and bandages wrapped around his head; it was obvious he had a concussion. Kari was just as bad. Both of her legs was broken, she had a black eye that seemed to be turning greenish-yellow on the sides; she had a broken nose, and worst of all, a cracked spine. Both of them had IV bags attached to them and they were both unconscious.

Tai scurried over to his little sister. He dropped to his knees and took her hand, tears forming in his eyes, "H-How could… who would do this to them?" he croaked.

Sora sat on the edge of Kari's bed and gently put her hand on Tai's shaking shoulder, "They'll be okay Tai," she reassured.

Matt sunk down next to T.K. and just stared in horror at the sight of his mangled body, "Might take a while though… and they may come out slightly crippled," Matt stated.

"Would you mind slapping him for me?" Tai asked Sora with all seriousness.

"Um… okay…" Sora said realizing by the look in his brown eyes that he wasn't being sarcastic.

Matt shot them a quick stare with fear showing in his eyes, Sora had slapped him, Tai, and Joe multiple time in the past (mainly for being boneheads). One time, Matt had a handprint on his cheek for two days because he said something stupid to her during a date. He shivered as the red head walked over to him. "Don't worry. Tai's far more upset then you seem to be. Make it sound convincing a he'll be slightly happier, okay?" she whispered. She then muttered a quick plan to him.

Matt shrugged, and Sora raised her arm and brought it down quickly. She stopped just as it got near his face, Matt clapped to make it sound like a slap, he turned his head and rubbed his cheek roughly to make it look sore.

Tai heard the 'slap' and smiled slightly, "That's whatcha get for saying they'll be crippled," he said turning, oblivious to the act.

"T-ai… where…?" a shaky pained voice mumbled.

Tai shot his gaze back to the bed to see Kari, her eyes partially open and looking confused. "Kari!" he croaked. Sora and Matt rushed over.

"She's awake! Matt go…" Tai started.

"No!" Kari hissed, and then winced, "You want to know what happened? Then don't bring mom and dad in, I don't want them to get worried…"

"But…"

"Tai… listen to your sister." Sora said softly.

"Okay, T.K. and I were having an awesome time. We went to this really nice restaurant and then went to see a movie, a romance. Then we went to the park 'cause Takeru wanted to show me something. It was this pond that had the moon shining on it so brightly that it reflected off the water and illuminated the sakura trees." Kari recapped. "Out of nowhere a dense fog appeared and someone that appeared to be tall and muscular spoke to us. Everything that happened after is too hazy, I remember feeling some serious pain…"

"Well I don't see why your mom and dad couldn't have heard about this…" Matt said.

"They wou-woudn't understand… the guy that did this was…" her eyes rolled into the back of her head, her eyelids shut, and she was unconscious again before she could finish.

"Kari…" Tai choked. He stood up and turned to his friends. "I am going to find who did this to them, no matter what the risk!"

**Cullen: "Nobody hurts Light and Hope and gets away with it! The search for justice begins next time on DIGIMON: DIGITAL MONSTERS! (I always wanted to do that!) One more thing... Why don't you guys send a couple of reviews at me? Also I know Matt could have just clapped without Sora pretending to slap him, but they had to make it look realistic if Tai turned around, which he did. And if you guys really want me to finish this, please vote for the poll on my profile, if nobody else votes than I'll just choose one. Only a few people have voted, (Me my cousin and somebody else, but that's it) that's really not enough so please just vote so I know what you guys want!"**


	2. Chapter 2

**Cullen: Heh heh…. I got my revenge on Yolei!  
*slamming on door* Yolei: Cullen, open this stinking closet door! I've been in here an hour!  
Cullen: Ok, once the chapter is over! (:  
Yolei: Dude come on! Not cool!  
Cullen: *rolls eyes* Fine! *opens door and ducks, narrowly missing Yolei's fist*  
Yolei: Damn, you're fast…. Ah well. Don't do that again!  
Cullen: Sure, anyway…. I've added the character's ages and a couple other facts, please review, I don't own Digimon, blah blah blah, onto the story….**

**Main Character's ages:  
Cody- 12  
T.K., Kari, Davis- 15  
Yolei and Ken- 16  
Izzy and Mimi- 17  
Tai, Sora, Matt, Katsu, Ryo- 18  
Joe-20  
Gennai- Who knows?  
Setting: Odaiba Japan and Digital World  
Time Setting: Mid May**

_Even the strongest mountain needs the ground on which it stands._

**Chapter the Second**

Matt and Sora stood staring at Tai; they both knew that when he said, "No matter what the risk," it was usually life or death.

"Tai that's insane! Kari and Takeru were nearly killed, if you try to find the bastard or animal that did this to them you might end up six feet under!" Matt protested, being the positive guy he is.

"I don't care. Who, or whatever, tried to kill my younger sister as well as T.K. must be brought to justice. We can't wait for the police, you know them. They'll probably announce the whole thing as a wolf attack and warn everyone to be careful in the area!" Tai hissed angrily.

Matt had to admit, Tai had a point, "If you're going through with this… so will I."

Sora nodded, "Me too."

"No Sora, I don't want to see something bad happen to you," Tai said.

"Tai shut up, nothing bad would happen to me. We ALL know I could beat you in a fight," Sora retorted, playfully punching her boyfriend's arm.

They heard someone snicker behind them; they turned to see Cody in the doorway. "What's so funny?" Tai questioned him.

"That Sora has a point," he replied calmly. "I saw what happened to Kari and T.K. on the news, are they alright?" He stepped into the room and closed the door.

"Well, if you would call numerous broken bones, concussions, and bruises alright, then yes," Matt answered sarcastically to the twelve-year old. "They're healing at least."

"That's good to hear," Cody said softly.

"So….. how long were you standing there for?" Sora asked.

"Long enough to hear that you guys are going to look for whoever did this," Cody retorted, "Could I help?"

"I can't ask you to do that Cod, but do you really want to?" Tai asked.

"I've known you guys for three years; you should know I'd do anything for my friends."

"Alright you can both come, just be careful ok?" Tai sighed, Cody and Sora nodded.

"Okay then, I guess we go to the park now?" Matt suggested.

The four Digidestined agreed and left the hospital-room.

"Hey mom, we're going to find who did this. See ya later," Tai said to his mother and the Digidestineds walked off before she, or any other parent, could protest.

The ominous fog still loomed gloomily over the park. Owls stared silently out of their holes in trees; their yellow eyes glowed dimly in the darkness making the park seem even creepier along with the threat of whoever tried to murder T.K. and Kari.

"Figures the cops aren't here…." Yamato muttered.

"The news announced it as a wild animal attack and told ever body to be cautious for the time being," Cody inquired.

"Told you so," Tai mumbled.

"Hey guys, wait up!" Tai recognized Agumon's voice calling out to them.

"Hiya buddy," Tai grinned, turning to see Agumon, Gabumon, Biyomon, and Armadillomon. "You guys come to help us?"

"Got that right!" Gabumon nodded.

"Well I guess we look for some kind of clue…"Sora mentioned.

"We'll split up then, Daphne, Velma, and I will go this way," Tai motioned toward Biyomon and Sora, "and Scooby and Shaggy can go that way!" Tai signaled toward Matt and Gabumon. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself," Tai scratched the back of his head while Matt and Gabumon gave him a cold stare and Cody rolled his eyes.

"Well… we could still split up I guess. It would be easier if we covered more ground," Matt alleged. "Tai and I could go to the upper left side of the area where Kari and T.K. were…. 'Mauled'… Agumon and Gabumon could search the lower left, Sora and Biyomon could search the lower right, and Cody and Armadillomon could check out the upper right section."

"Sounds like a plan," Armadillomon said and took off toward the upper right section of the park.

"Hey wait up!" Cody called out to his partner and raced after him.

Everyone else went to the parts of the park where they were supposed to search.

"Find anything yet Tai?" Matt asked his best friend. "It's been about forty-five minutes."

"That's a negative," Tai replied stepping away from a nearby rosebush.

Yamato sighed and glanced around again. Then, he caught something out of the corner of his eye. Matt turned quickly and saw o his astonishment, a trail of heavy, deep footprints. "Tai check this out!" Matt called and rushed over to them.

He knelt down next to the prints, they were long and seemed human like at first except… for the claws at the end.

"Whoa… how the hell did we miss these?" Tai asked kneeling down next to Yamato.

Matt continued to study the prints, "I don't know but…. Do they look… familiar to you?"

Tai took a closer look, "Not to me."

"Hey, Gabumon!" Matt called out, "Can you come here for a minute?"

Gabumon came running in moments, "What's up?"

"Could you digivolve to Ultimate please?"

"Uh….. okay."

The furry white and blue Digimon began to glow, "GABUMON DIGIVOLVE TO…. GARURUMON! GARURUMON DIGIVOLVE TO…. WEREGARURUMON!"

Gabumon had grown about five feet, the stripes on his snow white pelt seemed jagged like lightning, he wore a pair of ripped jean shorts with a skull on the left leg, he also wore long gloves that traveled up his arms that ended in some kind of shoulder armor, spike-like things covered his back.

"Okay, now put your foot on the print here," Matt commanded.

WereGarurumon obeyed and put his foot in the print. "Wow… almost an exact fit!" Tai noticed.

"Yeah, but see the claws at the end of the print? They're longer and the heel is a bit wider. This was definitely not an animal attack, it was a Digimon in the beast species," Matt proclaimed.

"Cool, you figured it out!" Sora said walking towards them followed by Cody, Armadillomon, Agumon and Biyomon.

"Guess I did," Matt sighed.

"Hey, I'm gonna go see where these lead ok?" Tai said and began walking off, following the trail.

Five minutes past and he realized they were headed toward the forest, but they stopped about twenty feet away. "That's weird they disappear right in front of this dead tree…"

Tai gasped when he saw what was carved on the dead birch. It was a crescent moon with an arrow through it. It was carved messily, as if with claws, and had the initials NH n the center of the moon. Dead branches were scattered around the tree.

Tai pulled his cell phone out and took a picture before running back to where the rest of the Digidestined were. "Hey guys check this out!" He opened up his phone and showed them the symbol.

"Wow…" Sora murmured. She frowned for a moment, "Hey Tai can you zoom in on this, just right there a little to the lower left of the symbol?"

"Sure why?" Tai turned his cell toward him and zoomed in on the photo, and gasped.

"So there is something there huh? I wasn't sure when I saw the mark," Sora said, "What is it?"

Tai turned his cell phone toward them again, right where Sora had pointed out were the words "Night Hunter".

"Animal attack my ass," Matt muttered, "It was undeniably a Digimon. I mean, foot prints this big, a weird symbol, a name, random eerie fog, and a lock of black hair Armadillomon found on a thorn bush a minute ago."

"So were looking for a virus or beast type correct?" Cody asked.

"Yeah, and I know just how to find out," Tai said. "Race you guys to Izzy's place?"

**Cullen: Well what do you know? Things seem to be coming together for them already huh? Not quite! Kari and T.K.'s near death experience is only just the beginning of a much larger plot. Secrets and untold danger lurk menacingly ahead! Tune in next time… and until I get my act together and write chapter 3, just review and read some of my other stories!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Cullen: Ciao! How's it goin? Here's the next chapter! I'm finally getting in more of the plot, so please read and review!**

**Yolei: How did you come up with this story again?**

**Cullen: Well my brother was driving me nuts and I had to have some way to blow off some steam….**

**Yolei: So you decided to maim all of us Digidestined?**

**Cullen: Um… uh… LOOK A DISTRACTION!**

**Yolei: *turns* What?**

**Cullen: *runs***

**Yolei: Cullen! :( *chases***

**Kari: Okay, I guess I'll start the story then…**

_The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but the one who causes the darkness.~ Victor Hugo_

Izzy turned the clump of fur over in his palm, "You're sure it's from a Digimon?" he asked.

The Digidestined were sitting around Izzy's bedroom or what Tai referred to as Izzy's 'Nerd Cave'. The white walls were almost dark grey in the low light. The Digimon were lounging around on the bed.

Matt nodded, "The footprints we found went right through a patch of brambles or whatever and they were almost an exact match to Were-Garurmon's feet."

Izzy hesitated, "Okay, I'll check it out later. Right now I'm exhausted, I've been teaching Mimi how to use a bunch of computer software all night."

"Wait, Mimi? Computers? You're joking right? That's why she's here?" Tai asked, shocked.

"Yep," Mimi replied simply.

"Now I've seen everything," Cody whispered.

"Didn't think you were actually going through with it," Sora admitted.

"It was a promise I made to myself," Mimi specified.

"So you think you can track what Digimon it is? We're pretty sure it's a Virus-Beast type so that should be a help right?" Matt asked.

Izzy spun around in his computer chair and faced them in the dim light of his room. They all knew the "look" he gave them meant only he could speak for a few brief moments. "I'm not sure if a small lock of hair will be enough to trace exactly which Digimon it is so I'll have to go back to the park tomorrow morning and poke around for a while for anything else. I'll use my Digivice to scan the hair and maybe I'll get a good reading but things tend to go wrong a lot with this kind of thing so I may not get a reading. I'll talk to Gennai a bit too," Izzy rambled. "Oh, Meems, could you help me out at the park?"

"Of course!" Mimi alleged, determined.

Izzy began to slowly spin in circles in his chair, "Cool, now uh… if you guys don't mind, I haven't gotten a good night's sleep in a week and I'm going to crash like a computer if I don't…" Izzy yawned.

"Alright Izzy," Tai said getting to his feet. "Oh, by the way, what happened to your face?"

"Ryuu Sakei," Izzy mumbled brushing his black eye with his index finger.

"Damn, that jerk again?" Sora asked. "How come he just can't leave you alone?"

Izzy sighed, "I dunno… but I'm really not in the mood to care."

Sora, Tai, Matt, Cody, Biyomon, Agumon, Gabumon, and Armadillomon filed out of Izzy's room, "Hey, isn't Mimi coming?" Biyomon asked.

"She probably has to gather up her stuff," Sora suggested with a yawn.

"Come on, I think we'd better get home," Tai said. "Sora, do you wanna stay over? I mean, my apartment is closer and yours is on the other side of town so…"

"Sure," Sora yawned again. "My parents and yours never mind."

Tai gazed out the window for the umpteenth time that week. It had been three days since Izzy and Mimi had gone to the park and he still hadn't heard anything back from them. Neither of them had been at school the day before either.

"Hey mom!" Tai called into the kitchen, trying to ignore the awful smells coming from the oven.

"Yes dear?" Mrs. Kamiya asked looking up at him.

""I'm going out for a bit; I'll be home later…"

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

Tai finally gave in to his mother's cooking, "No offense but did something die in the oven?"

"Oh dear, you still think my cooking is awful?" she inquired, upset.

"Yeah… sorry," Tai shrugged and walked away, leaving his mother grumbling about her culinary skills.

He took a bus down to the park and began to walk around, hoping to find Izzy or Mimi but he didn't have any luck. He pulled his cell phone out of his jeans pocket and dialed Izzy's number. "Hello?" The voice of Izzy's mother answered over the receiver.

"Hey Mrs. Izumi its Tai. Is Izzy around?"

"I haven't seen Izzy since we got back from our trip."

Tai's eyes widened, "W-What do you mean?"

"Izzy hasn't been home, he's not in his room, and his cell phone is here on the counter… I'm really getting worried…"

"Okay well, I'm looking for him right now so I'll make sure he gets back."

"If you find him, tell him he's going to get the scolding of a lifetime," she growled slightly.

Yeah, because beating of a lifetime has already been taken, Tai thought, "Okay, well, goodbye then."

He tried Mimi's cellphone, it went right to voicemail. "Hi it's Mimi! I'm really, really sorry I can't take your call right now because I'm probably busy or don't feel like talking to anybody. Maybe we can talk over lunch or you can call back later okay? Leave a message! Ciao!" –Beep-

"Hey Mimi…" –beep! - Tai groaned. "Same old Mimi… Even after five years she still talks way too much…"

He dialed Sora' number, "Hey gorgeous!" he said.

"Hi, what's up?"

"Have you heard anything from Mimi?"

"Nope, why?"

"Well, Izzy hasn't been home and doesn't have his phone, and Mimi's is turned off completely."

"Gee, that's not like them…" Sora inquired.

"I know, it's weird… well call me back if you hear anything from them…"

"Ok, love ya," Sora said.

"Back at you!" Tai replied, hanging up.

Tai gazed up at the cerulean sky dotted with puffy white clouds, "Damn, where are they?" he muttered to himself.

He walked toward the forest, near where his sister and T.K. were left in critical condition. There wasn't a meter of police tape to be seen, the attack had been passed as an animal attack. _Well, I guess that's half true…. _Tai thought.

He glanced casually over at the dead tree; the arrow pierced moon symbol was still there but seemed kind of faded like it had been there for years, not three days. Tai's eyes shot open wider as his gazed traveled up the tree. There was a bandana snagged on one of the branches. It looked like a torn version of the English flag, Tai instantly recognized it as Mimi's.

He raced over and pulled it down. It was torn and small chunks were missing_. She must be nearby!_ He thought. Tai looked into the trees; the wind had been bowing from that direction the last few days. He walked into the woods, being cautious not to step on any poisonous plants or get caught on thorns.

Half an hour passed and there was still no sign of Izzy or Mimi, "I guess they aren't here," Tai concluded.

"H-He-Hello…? W-Who's there…?" called a shaky feminine voice from about 20 feet away.

Tai's gaze shot over in the direction of the voice. There was a metal spike with chains wrapped around it wedged into the bark of a large oak tree. He cautiously walked over to it and turned to the other side of the tree. His brown eyes enlarged in horror.

Mimi was sitting, chained at the base of the tree. One of her knees was parallel to her chest and the other was underneath it, twisted at an awkward angle. Her blue shirt and white-gray skirt were torn badly revealing her skin which was covered in a few bleeding gashes, though most of them had dried up. Her arms and hands were behind her back. She looked up at Tai, straining to move her neck, tears flowing down her cheeks mixing with the blood from cut across her left cheek. "T-Tai…?" she asked weakly.

"Yeah, hang on I'll get you out of this," Tai stated and went to the other side of the tree again and began unwrapping the chains from the spine in the tree. He unraveled them and tossed them toward the front of the tree. He walked back to Mimi. "You okay?"

He asked kneeling down.

"Do you I look okay?" Mimi questioned weakly. She coughed and blood came out of her mouth.

"Point taken," he replied and untied her arms. "Do you think you can walk or should I carry you to a hospital?" 

"I think I can walk, I just need to get the sensation in my legs back…" she responded.

Tai stood up and held his hand out to her; she gladly took it and got to her feet. She wasn't standing a second when her knee capsized underneath her. Some of her cuts opened up again. She cried out in pain as she hit the ground. "Yeah I'll carry you," Tai suggested.

"Y-Yeah, good idea," Mimi replied quietly before coughing up more blood.

Tai pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and handed it to Mimi and then wrapped his arms under her knees and shoulders and picked her up. "Call an ambulance and Sora okay?"

"Okay…" she said weakly, curling up a bit in his arms.

After she finished talking, she hung up. "Sora and the ambulance should be at the park in ten minutes…"

"Good, so what happened to you and Izzy?"

"We were looking around here in the woods when something really big came up to us and attacked, it looked kind of like Were Garurumon but taller and black… it knocked Izzy out and beat me up and chained me to the tree and then- then…" she burst into tears, "It kidnapped Izzy!"

**Kari: Okay well… uh… if you want to know why Mimi is taking computer lessons you can read Cullen's other story ****Computer Lessons? ****or stay tuned…**

**Cullen: *over phone* Please review!**

**Kari: So where are you?**

**Cullen: I can't tell you but here's a hint, I'm not hiding in Canada.**

**Kari: (He's in Canada) Yolei isn't here y'know.**

**Cullen: Can I come back?**

**Vipermon: Yes, I'm lonely**

**Canada: *over phone* What about Kari?**

**Vipermon: Oh… right. Heh…**

**Cullen: Anyway, don't forget to review! Stay tuned!**


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